New book claims serial killer murdered woman in Torrington

By Leslie Hutchison

Updated
8:07 pm EDT, Monday, August 6, 2018

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William Paetzold talks about his client, William Devin Howell, after he was sentenced to six life terms for the murders of six people whose bodies he dumped in his “garden” behind a New Britain strip mall.

Media: Hartford Curant

TORRINGTON — One of the most prolific serial killers in state history claims to have killed one of his victims in Torrington, according to author Anne Howard, a local resident and attorney.

William Devin Howell, 48, who is serving six life sentences at the Cheshire Correctional Institution, is the subject of Howard’s newly released true crime book “His Garden — Conversations with a Serial Killer.”

Howell was in Litchfield County because he worked in Torrington. Other than Howell’s claim about sexually assaulting and killing one of his victims in Torrington, there is no known police evidence to support it.

The book cover featuring author Anne Howard of Torrington

The book cover featuring author Anne Howard of Torrington

Photo: Contributed / Anne Howell

Photo: Contributed / Anne Howell

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The book cover featuring author Anne Howard of Torrington

The book cover featuring author Anne Howard of Torrington

Photo: Contributed / Anne Howell

New book claims serial killer murdered woman in Torrington

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For about eight months, beginning in early 2002, Howell worked at Benco Roofing LLC on South Main Street, according to company owner and president Eric Benzon.

“I’m shocked someone wrote a book,” about his former employee, Benzon said recently.

“I remember him very well,” he noted. “He was a young guy from Virginia. He had a wonderful personality and was friendly and outgoing. It’s just unbelievable.”

Benzon said he let Howell park and sleep in his van behind the company’s shop for a couple of weeks after Howell told his employer that he had lost his apartment. “I said ‘OK’ because he was a good worker,” Benzon added. “He only missed two days of work.”

It was more than a decade later that an announcement about a police news conference in 2015, detailing the discovery of human remains in New Britain, caught the attention of Howard. She had followed news accounts about the police activity and went to the media gathering to learn more.

Soon after learning that Howell was the likely suspect in a number of murders, Howard wrote to him in prison and asked if he would correspond with her.

Her decision to contact Howell, she said in an interview, stems from a long-standing interest in books and films about true crime perpetrators.

Her biography from Wild Blue Press, which published Howard’s book, notes that she graduated in 1988 from McGill University in Montreal, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati, College of Law, in 2001 and moved to Litchfield County around 2013, according to the publishing company. Soon after, Howard opened her law practice in Torrington, she said.

As she was working on the book, Howard said, she decided to closed her law office on Pearl Street in June and plans to continue writing true crime books.

In her first letter to Howell, Howard wrote that she had talked to the daughter of his ex-girlfriend, Dorothy (Dori) Holcomb, of Bristol, now deceased. She wrote that the daughter thought fondly of Howell and called him “a kind-hearted giant.” Howell weighed more than 200 pounds, records show.

After receiving the complimentary letter, Howell agreed to correspond with Howard. As trust grew, she and Howell began telephone conversations. The author-subject relationship later expanded to include monthly meetings at the prison. Howard said she still visits him.

After reading the prison letters and researching legal documents, Howard said she thinks Howell’s murder spree began in Torrington in 2003.

The Torrington victim, according to information Howell wrote in a letter to Howard, was Melanie Camilini of Seymour. He wrote he was in Waterbury and decided to “pick up” Camilini in February, 2003.

Howell wrote that once Camilini was in his van, he “duct-taped her hands together.” His letter states that he drove her to Torrington and parked, and according to Howard’s book, Howell then raped and killed Camilini there in his blue Ford Econoline van.

Torrington police Lt. Bart Barown III said that he was in the patrol division in 2003. “I don’t remember a van, I don’t remember Howell,” he said. Barown noted that the department was not involved in an investigation concerning Howell.

Local resident Mike Coudriet worked at the now-closed Action Home Center in 2003; the company was in the same business plaza on South Main Street as the roofing company. Coudriet said recently that he had heard about serial killings, but didn’t realize Howell had worked in Torrington, much less in the same block as him. “It’s unnerving what transpired while I was there,” Coudriet said.

In a letter from jail, Howell said he tried to bury Camilini’s body in what Torrington locals call “Little Woodstock,” a section of the Paugnut State Forest near Burr Pond State Park. But the ground was frozen. He had to find another location, which he did. It’s an area he came to call his “garden.”

When Howell was charged in September, 2015 for the deaths of five women and one man, court records show that three of the victims, whose names were not released, due to state privacy laws, were sexually assaulted. Journalists covering the trial note that one of the victims was Camilini.

In November, Howell received six life sentences in Superior Court after pleading guilty to six counts of murder.

The state’s document on the conclusion of the case notes that Howell pleaded “guilty today (Nov. 17, 2017) to killing five women and a man whose bodies were found in a wooded area of New Britain after he was previously convicted of manslaughter in the slaying of another woman,” Nilsa Arizmendi, of Wethersfield.

The process of becoming a serial killer, from Howell’s point of view, is contained in Howard’s book. It notes that he was born in Hampton, Va., when his mother was 40. His two older brothers were both in their 20s by then.

Howard writes that one of William Howell’s brothers posted an online comment in the New Britain Herald in 2015 about his brother’s early life. Howard said the brother wrote that their parents were too easy on William. “They were old and tired and let him get away with a lot in his adolescence,” the book notes. The online comment has since been removed from the site, but Howard said she has a printout of the posting.

The decision by Howell to provide private information to Howard about his early life and subsequent crimes, went against Howell’s lawyers’ advice.

Howell’s court-appointed defense attorney, William H. Paetzold of Glastonbury, began representing Howell in late 2015 and continued until last fall’s sentencing. He was assisted by Jeffrey Kestenband, also of Glastonbury.

Kestenband responded to a question about the practice of his client corresponding with Howard, saying “Our advice was to not speak to anyone,” who was not officially involved in the case. “But an attorney can’t control,” who a client speaks to, he said.

Paetzold said he didn’t know how Howard obtained the facts for her book. “Was there fact checking?” he asked.

Howard noted that Howell gave her “two big boxes of prosecution evidence,” which she used as part of her research.

About whether Howell is telling the truth, she wrote in the preface to the book “I don’t know. That is for the reader to decide.”

Howard said she is the only person from the public who visits Howell in prison, where they talk while separated by a plexiglass window.

“He truly presents as an ordinary Joe. He has a funny sense of humor. We have an easy, on-going chit chat,” she said.

In the category of “True Crime, Serial Killers” on Amazon, Howard’s book, “His Garden — Conversations with a Serial Killer,” is listed as the 25th most sold book on the list. She is scheduled to hold a book signing event at the Torrington Library on August 15 from 6 p.m to 8 p.m.